Commonwealth Games 2018: Aruna Budda Reddy, Ashish Kumar to lead India's Artistic Gymnastics team in Gold Coast

What's The Story?

It does not take a rocket scientist to predict that the upcoming month of April is going to be a pretty sporting month because the XXI Commonwealth Games 2018 is going to held from the 5th to the 15th of the month at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The Indian team for Artistic Gymnastics was announced earlier on Wednesday which includes the likes of Aruna Reddy to Rakesh Patra and Ashish Kumar.

In case you didn't know...

The Commonwealth Games which started way back in 1930 sought to start a multi-sporting event where members of the British Empire would unite and compete against each other. 53 member countries and a total of 71 teams participate in this once-in-4-years event. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games that was held in Glasgow, Scotland, India brought home an admirable 64 medals in all.

The heart of the matter

The recently released squad for the Artistic Gymnastics looks pretty powerful with the 22-year old Aruna Reddy who is fresh off her bronze medal win in 2018 World Cup Gymnastics in the women's vault event in Melbourne. She created history by becoming the first Indian to clinch a medal at Gymnastics World Cup.

The squad also boasts of Ashish Kumar, who became the first person to win medals for gymnastics from India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and shortly became the most successful Indian gymnast, bagging a silver and bronze medal.

Other top gymnasts like Rakesh Patra and Yogeshwar Singh have also been included to ensure a brilliant team. Patra, who is a medal contender on the Rings and Parallel Bar, was initially snubbed after the All around scores criterion was applied. However, he moved the Delhi High Court with a writ petition and the IOA relented.

In the women's squad, along with Aruna, Pranati Nayak and Pranati Das are equally promising gymnasts who considerably raise the hopes of India winning a couple of medals this time again.

What's next?

We have to be a little patient and wait until the 5th of April when the Commonwealth Games will ensue in Gold Coast, Australia and continue till the 15th. India's gymnastics squad looks capable enough with people like Aruna Reddy and Ashish Kumar constituting the squad.

Author's take

India's Gymnastics history has been pretty spectacular of late with women like Aruna Reddy, Dipa Kumar and men like Ashish Kumar bringing laurels to the country in the international level. We can safely pin our hopes on the able shoulders of all the wonderful athletes that constitute the squad for the Artistic Gymnastics.

The chances of India bagging a number of medals this year in the Commonwealth Games is pretty strong and we cannot wait for all the action to unfurl come April.